


'Cause I know you, man.

by fujimaru



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dennis has emotions, Episode continuation, Light Angst, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 08:01:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11824455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fujimaru/pseuds/fujimaru
Summary: They’ve done this before and everyone knows it.set directly post S12 E08





	'Cause I know you, man.

They’ve done this before and everyone knows it. Quick handies in high school turned into long drunken nights on the scavenged couch in _their_ apartment, the one that Mac had dragged home behind him from god knows where (and nearly refused Dennis’s help in hauling it up the stairs, the idiot). Kisses pressed to Mac’s cheek, swatted off but touched gently afterwards, savoring the feeling. It was simple. They didn't question it. Tears drip down Dennis’s (beautiful) jawline and land in Mac’s (small) hair.

This tastes different.

The gang knows when to leave them alone, thank god, the one thing they can do right, but still Dennis’s back is pressed against brick, curled up into Mac’s warmth and braced outside the alley door, the one that sticks half the time and no one uses anyway due to the dumpster stench. The harsh February wind is cut by the buildings and the heat from the vents leaching into the air but still Mac’s hands feel like ice as they slip down and unbutton Dennis’s jeans. 

The first Valentine’s Day they spent together: Dennis laid on the couch cussing out a woman (Mac had lost track of which), Mac’s eyes caressed Dennis’s face as he nodded along silently (Dennis pretended not to notice as he necked the last of his beer). It was still too fresh, too strange to pursue any kind of relationship. Mac cracked a homophobic joke the two of them both ignored, laughing as Dennis pulled his legs onto Mac’s lap and Mac’s thumb rubbed circles into Dennis’s thigh. A movie the two of them had seen fifty times and would go on to watch a hundred more played on the TV, the boys pretending to pay attention, lost in each other. They both knew it was dangerous to keep going like this. 

Mac ruts his hips against Dennis’s, the two of them trying to catch their breath in the other’s mouth. They’re older now, they should know how to take their time (and they have before), but Dennis bucks up into Mac’s touch and their arms are getting numb in the cold and they know that they can’t last much longer in any sense of the term.

Dennis remembers what it was like back when he was in college, when Mac would hop the bus to visit him and the two of them would share a joint sitting on the edge of his bed, blowing the smoke out the window of the frat house. Dennis would ask Mac what he had been up to. Mac would shrug and take another hit. Mac would ask Dennis how school was going and pass the roach back. Dennis would let Mac light it for him and cough his way through a lie about one of his many girlfriends (“Jess?” Mac would ask. “Sure,” Dennis would reply). There was always some event going on somewhere when Mac would visit, something that Dennis was never invited to but that he would tell Mac he was just skipping for his sake, so that when the house had emptied out and the two of them had gotten high enough to lie to themselves the next day no one could question the noises leaking through the door. 

Mac’s eyes are so gentle. Dennis can’t stop his tears. It has been so long since he has been able to cry without aid and everything that he had been holding in is pouring out and he trusts Mac to be able to handle it all. And it scares him. 

Dennis married Maureen out of spite and the both of them knew it. “I’m feeling again,” he proclaimed to Mac. The truth: he was feeling emptier than he had in a long time, but Dennis was a manipulator at heart and if one more lie could push Mac to finally take a goddamn stand for once in his pathetic life he would do it. Mac smiled in return, hurt in his eyes. The hole in Dennis’s chest was ripped a little wider. “You’re gonna need to move out.” That still didn’t do it. Dennis tried Maureen once again -- the two men stumbling in drunk, the shoulder nudges, the casual mention of Mac being Dennis’s boy toy, it was all planned. The alimony was not. But with his arm around Mac and Mac’s giggles at the term, how it became their _thing_ , how in that moment Mac was his, it was more than worth it. 

It’s more real than either of them want to admit. Dennis gasps in Mac’s ear as teeth drag down his neck, catching each tendon. “Mac,” he whines , “more.”

They’ve developed their own terms, their own ways of escape. Hugh Honey and Vic Vinegar had lived on in their apartment. A power couple of power bottoms. Vic’s dinner parties. Hugh pointing out a house they passed on the way to the store (location, location, location, dear Vic). Anything they did they could pass off as being in character. You never know when a scheme might be hatched that needed a couple of gay realtors. Spoiler: never. But that didn’t matter to either of them then. It didn’t matter now. Hugh Honey and Vic Vinegar died in the flames of their apartment.

Maybe it’s because it’s Valentine’s day. Maybe it’s because his ex-wife is finally dead. Maybe because he hates Mac. Maybe because they’ve been forced together for so long. Maybe because this was the first (best) gift that Dennis had ever been given. Maybe because this is the first chance that they’ve had to be alone since Mac came out. Everything feels so much more intense than usual and Dennis is so, so close. Mac is too; his shoulders are shaking and Dennis thinks that it’s adorable. The thought catches him off guard.

Is Mac in love?

That’s an easy question to answer.

Is Dennis in love?

The answer is wiped from his mind as he grunts and spills against Mac’s groin, Mac following close behind. Dennis buries his face in the crook of Mac’s neck and sobs. He knows that Mac will hold him for as long as he needs.

 

“And how did you, um…” Dennis paused as he could feel his voice begin to break. “How did you know that I wanted an RPG?” 

Mac, in all his wisdom, smiled. “‘Cause I know you, man.”

**Author's Note:**

> Mac wasn't surprised when Dennis left.
> 
> S12 E08 continuation fic that I've been thinking about since it aired but that I was reminded of after the Sunny script twitter bot hit the episode. Big shouts to the Sunny script bot. You're the real MVP.


End file.
